http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/378/16465_.html
Mysterious Antarctica may be the home of the oldest civilization
11/14/2005 23:21
Lots of surprises may be hidden under the Antarctic ice and are waiting to be discovered by humans
The existence of the prehistoric civilization in Antarctica started drawing attention of professional historians after the World War II. The hypothesis can be proved by the medieval maps and research of the Western paleogeologists and glaciologists.
In January 1820 the lieutenant of the Russian Imperial Fleet Mikhail Lazarev discovered a new continent. At the beginning of the 20th century famous Russian Brockhaus and Efron encyclopedic dictionary contained an article, according to which the continent was insufficiently explored and that there were no flora and fauna. Besides, the author mentioned the variety of seaweeds and sea animals that inhabited the Antarctic waters.
About twenty years later the head of the Istanbul National Museum Halil Edhem found an old map while revising the library of Byzantine emperors in the old sultans palace. The author of the map depicted the Western coast of Africa, the Southern coast of South America and the Northern coast of Antarctica. Halil was astonished. The ice edge of the Queen Maud Land south of 70th parallel was free of ice. The author mapped a mountain chain at this point. The name of the cartographer was well known to Edhem. It was the admiral of Ottoman Empire Fleet Piri Reis, who lived in the first half of the 16th century.
In 1949 the joint British-Swedish expedition conducted a thorough seismic exploration of the southernmost continent through the thick ice. The results coincided with the map of Reis. However, it was a mystery how the map data were to agree with the level of science of 1513....